If you can't say something nice . . .

Facebook and I have a love/hate relationship.  On the one hand, FB has allowed me to keep in touch with friends all over the world.  I've been able to reconnect with friends from high school and college, offer comfort and encouragement to people who are hurting, and rejoice with friends on the arrival of babies, promotions, weddings and birthdays.  Facebook allows me to effectively stalk follow my friends and their friends, perform amateur background checks on others boyfriends and girlfriends (because I care, y'all), and creep on view all the awesome photos people post.

But lately, I feel like there is a lot of FB abuse going on.  FB is no longer about silly status updates or the sharing of pictures and awesome youtube videos (meaning any and all "Call Me Maybe" lip dubs and parodies).  Instead it has become a place to say hateful things to or about people from the comfort of our couches.  While there isn't complete anonymity, I am convinced that it is a lot easier to say ugly things from behind a computer screen than to say those same things to someone's face.

About two years ago, God really convicted me about how I was using Facebook.  It was during a time of great frustration in my job, and I chose to share that frustration, un-edited, in my FB statuses.  After an anonymous note in my work mailbox cautioned me against venting in such a public forum, I decided to take a break from FB and get my issues under control.  What God showed me was that I shouldn't write anything on FB that I wouldn't be willing to say to someone's face, or that I didn't want put on the screen in a faculty meeting or at church for everyone to see.  Basically, He tweaked that old adage-"If you can't say something nice  . . .  you really shouldn't put it on Facebook."

I think as humans we seek instant gratification in many areas of our lives, and FB feeds that need.  Having a crappy day?  Post about it and instantly get feedback.  Dealing with a psycho co-worker?  Tell everyone about it so that they can give you really bad advice for dealing with the problem.  Fishing for compliments?  Talk about how fat you feel and instantly have your spirits lifted by your friends.  Angry that people never post on your wall?  Compose a passive-aggressive status update and really stick it to them.  Concerned with the state of politics, society or America?  Post harsh words that are sure to make a difference in the world.

When I returned to Facebook after my hiatus, I promised God that I would only post things that would encourage and build up the people who read them.  Essentially, I use Phillipians 4:8 as the plumb line for my posts.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."

As a result, I don't post nearly as much, and in many situations I find that I have to stop and think before I speak, or close Facebook and walk away before I shoot off a thoughtless response.  It has forced me to focus on the positives in my life.  It has changed my perspective, and I hope, brought glory to God for all that He has done for me.

As a Christian, I feel an additional responsibility with my words and my witness.  I value my relationships with others, whether they see things my way or not, and I certainly don't want a glib status update to hurt my ability to share or show Jesus.  I wonder if Jesus would have used Facebook had it been available.  I am no Biblical scholar or spiritual giant, but I notice that Jesus spent His time face-to-face with others.  He didn't post generalizations about sin; he got to know sinners.  He spoke-not posted, typed, texted or emailed-the truth in love.

Each one of us can choose how we will use the power of Facebook.  And I pray that what we decide to post will be pleasing to God.

Right Now

Right now . . .

• I'm writing a blog post!  It's only been more days than I care to discuss.
• Sinatra is giving me the "it's time to walk" stare-down.
• I'm still in my pajamas.
• I'm suffering from Olympic withdrawals.
• I'm trying to motivate myself to walk the dog then do my plyometrics work-out.
• I have a headache.
• I'm dreading the next three months of trash-talking  and mud-slinging known as political ads.
• I'm drinking Crystal Light Peach Tea.
• I'm wondering if posting this will cause people to expect more blog posts in the future.

For my dad

Below is a copy of what I said about my dad at his memorial service last Wednesday:

There are about a million things I could tell you about my dad.

• How he loved to do the YMCA
• How he listened to the sound track to Top Gun and Urban Cowboy on every long car trip
• How before a long car trip he would pray and then quote one of the last lines from Back to the Future-"roads, where we're going, we don't need roads"
• How he loved quoting from the movie Bring It On-"These are not spirit fingers-these are spirit fingers!"
• How he helped us both with our math homework and displayed an unbelievable amount of patience when we would inevitably become frustrated and start crying
• How he had many "dad-isms" like:  "Physics tells why"; "Life is a series of proportional challenges"; and "Nothing good happens after midnight."
• How we could count on him to sing "Today is your birthday" each time one of us turned a year older
  
• How he danced to the CSI theme song-a full choreographed number he would do every time we watched together
• How he loved a good organ solo
• How we called him "White Shadow" or "Tomato Man" based on how he looked when we went to the beach
• How he schooled us all playing four-square at Thanksgiving
• How he told us that eating our vegetables would put hair on our chests-'cause that is what every little girl really wants.
• How he really was "High on Life"

But the Lord brought a sweet memory to my mind on Thursday night, just hours after hearing of Dad's death, and I think it paints a picture of what I love and will remember most about my dad.

Last year, I signed up to participate in the Rodeo Run 10K.  I'm not really a runner, so this was a pretty big deal for me.  I trained for 6 weeks and was running close to 6 miles by the day of the race. My husband Sean came downtown with me and was there to cheer me on at the starting line. I began the race with much enthusiasm and a decent pace.  By the time I got close to mile 2, though, my burst of adrenaline had worn off and I realized that I still had 4 long miles to go.   So to look up to see my dad and my sister standing on the sidewalk with handmade signs gave me a much needed boost.  My dad has always been a cheerleader to both of us girls-whether it was coming to every drill team performance or volleyball game, or supporting us as we pursued our careers in the liberal arts, where at times support was financial as well as emotional.  Dad's encouraging spirit is a trait I have seen manifest itself in my sister, Lindsay-and so it really shouldn't have surprised me to see them both there, early on a Saturday morning, screaming their lungs out.

I didn't see any of my family again until I approached Minute Maid Park and the end of the race.  My dad was strategically standing on the corner that marked the beginning of the last .2 miles of the race.  He waved his sign and shouted "Way to go, Katie" as I rounded the corner.  Right before the finish I saw my sister and husband, and after crossing the line, I waded through the crowds to find my family and thank them for their support.  When I found Sean and Lindsay, I noticed that dad hadn't made it back to them.  I asked where he was, and Lindsay informed me that he had called and said that he was having so much fun cheering for people that he was going to stay at the corner and cheer for the rest of the participants.

Remembering this now, I feel so blessed to have had a dad:

• who sacrificed so much for his family-including sleep on a Saturday morning
• who took joy in every moment of life-even standing on a street corner downtown
• and who encouraged others to run well and finish strong-both that day at the Rodeo Run and every day in their relationships with Christ and the race toward eternal life with Him

Reading in March

Books read in March
12.  Monsters of Men-Ness (Book 3 of the Chaos Walking Trilogy)
13.  Prom and Prejudice-Eulberg
14.  What Happened on Fox Street-Springstubb
15.  The Complete History of Why I Hate Her-Jacobson
16.  The Pioneer Woman:  Black Heels to Tractor Wheels-Drummond
17.  Sworn to Protect-Mills
18.  The World According to Humphrey-Birney (audio)
19.  Pursuit of Justice-Mills

I'll probably finish #20 today, making it my first book for April!

Random Musings

• I got allergy shots today.  After my mandatory 20 minute wait to make sure I didn't have an allergic reaction, I went to have the nurse check the shot sites.  Should it concern me that after checking them she asked if I had my Epi-Pen with me?
• This is the first night I have not had rehearsal on a Monday since mid-January.  I celebrated by watching old episodes of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team on Netflix.
• My dog gets very excited about riding in the car.
• Unbeknownst to me, I left my work badge at the public library today.  A sweet librarian called me and let me know they had it.
• My friend Lauren has some of the cutest children on the planet.  Seriously.  They are awesome.She is awesome.
• Twinkles the Pink Pony is currently wearing a tutu. 

 

Reading in February

February was a weird month and clearly, I didn't make much time for reading.  Between Willy Wonka rehearsals, work and helping to take care of a friend in the hospital, my stack of books to read fell by the wayside.  The good news is that I've already finished two books in the first six days of March, so I'm hoping to catch up and get back on track with my goal.

Books read in February
8.  Moon Over Manifest-Vanderpool
9.  The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet-Dionne
10.  The Ask and The Answer-Ness (Book 2 of the Chaos Walking Trilogy)
11.  Reshaping It All: Motivation for Physical and Spiritual Fitness-Bure

I haven't been blogging, but I have been reading!

As one (or more) friend said to me recently, "Now that you work part time, I expect you to update that blog more often, woman!"

I am hesitant to make too many promises, but I will come on at least once a month to post about my reading.  Last year, I set a goal for myself to read 100 books in 2010 and I did it!  My personal rules for the challenge were that the books would be "chapter" books (not picture books), but they could be children's, young adult, or adult, fiction or non-fiction, print and audio.

Side note:  I love picture books.  They are a valid form of literature.  It is a wee bit (okay, a large bit) annoying to me when I tell people about my awesome accomplishment and they joke about how it was probably all picture books.  Well it wasn't picture books, but if I chose to read 100 picture books, that would still be pretty impressive.

This year, I have upped my goal by 10% (is this right, math people?) to 110 in 2011. The same "rules" apply, though I'm going to have to step it up this month, since I only read 7 books in January.  My list includes title and author, and denotes if I listened to it on CD.  An * denotes a book that I found particularly outstanding.

Books read in January

1.  *The Lost Hero-Riordan
2.  Work Hard. Be Nice. How two inspired teachers created the most promising schools in America-Mathews
3.  Artemis Fowl-Colfer
4.  *Redeeming Love-Rivers
5.  *The Knife of Never Letting Go-Ness
6.  Incarceron-Catherine Fisher (audio)
7.  Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters-Standiford

I actually really enjoyed all of the books I read in January.  I thought about writing a brief summary of each, but that really stressed me out and made me feel like suddenly my reading was part of a school assignment.  I will say though, that should you choose to read book #5, DO NOT, whatever you do, get attached to the dog.  I only wish someone had told me this before I read the book.  You're welcome.

If you want to know more about any of the books I read, just ask!  And if you have any books that you think I should read, leave me a comment and let me know.